Splatter
by TotalFangirl985782
Summary: Have you ever known someone? I mean, really known them? Have you ever thought that you knew someone, but were proven wrong? Everyone thought that they knew Grell Sutcliff. And everyone was wrong.
1. Prologue

**A/N This has been resting on my mind for a while, the life of Grell outside what everyone knows, what everyone expects. Because there is more to people than meets the eye, or the ear. And you can never really know a person, in fact, the only way you can even come close is by digging your toes in and helping them out of their secrets.**

_Splatter._

Grell reached into the paint bucket, and, loading his brush, stained the wall with such a fury and a passion that was nothing short of madness. Madness, genius, was there much of a difference? Grell stood balanced tiptoed, on one foot, on the stool. His magnificent hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, a smock covering his home clothes. He jumped lightly down from the stool, admiring his masterpiece. He went to the sink, washing the paint off of his hands. He made sure to get everything out from under his nails, too. After all, a ladies' nails must be taken good care of, right? He looked at his reflection in the mirror. Smears of blue, green, brown and orange were on his face. He ran hot water in the bath, may as well just clean everywhere, he thought.

As he was cleaning up, hiding his paint cans under his bed, his phone began buzzing in his pocket. He pulled it swiftly out of his dark jeans and answered, taking his smock off with one hand. He had on a light colored blue tank top that showed off the toned muscles he always tried so desperately to hide. Undoing his hair, he listened to the person on the other end.

"Ehh? Overtime? You're booked solid? But it's my day off..." he listened to the chatter some more. Sighing, he answered in an upbeat voice, "No, of course it's fine! If I come in today I might get to make an impression on my Wirru-chan~" he giggled girlishly.

"Alright, I'll be there at 3, see ya then, Bets~" he hung up quickly, sighing heavily. He looked up at his new mural, then at the bath he wanted so desperately. Grell drained the faucet, watching the water rush down the drain like a tiny, angry tornado. He wished he could act like that sometimes. But alas, showing his true emotions was not the path that he had chosen. At least, it hadn't been since middle school when he'd made that one, fateful mistake.


	2. Backsplash

"But Wirruchan~" was heard throughout the workspace as an extremely upset Mr. Sutcliff came flying out of a private office, landing on his rump with a bootprint on his face. Everyone stared as he lay there, stunned. No one moved forward. No one tried to help him up. They all turned at once and went back to their work. Grell sat there for a moment more, then stood up suddenly. He laughed loudly, then, prancing to the door like he wasn't hurt at all, called out: "I won' t give up William darling! And next time, please don't be so hard on a lady's skin, I'm delicate you know~" Then, humming, Grell skipped to his office.

...

Grell was sick and tired of overtime... Nowadays it seemed he was getting called in to work on almost every one of his days off. Certainly it was because of the serial killer that just debuted, the one that his darling Bassy was investigating down in London, but still, just because some psycho decides to go on a killing spree shouldn't mean that Grell has to be the only one on call around the clock. Of course, It was probably because Grell was the only one in the dispatch unit that didn't seem to have a life, and was therefore taken advantage of. True, he could say that he had plans, but that usually means meeting someone and Grell was always alone... Every time his boss asked him if he had plans he always answered with a no and came in to work anyways, because he didn't want to be the cause of any more unnecessary drama...

...

"How dare you say that to a lady?!" Grell gasped, horrified. "You should be ashamed of yourself! And you call yourself a gentleman!?" Grell slapped his Kohai across the face, leaving nail marks.

"What, just because I said that the only reason people like you is for that fine ass of yours? Goodness knows enough people talk about it for it to be famous, you whore!"

Telling himself inwardly all of the reasons he shouldn't rip this brat a new one, he clenched his fists so hard that his nails cut into the skin. Ignoring the blood dripping silently onto the marble, Grell turned around and started walking away, even though he knew the taunts would follow.

...

Grell sat at his desk doing paperwork as usual.

"How mundane this existence is..." he muttered to himself, scribbling down names and dates.

...

A young intern was shuffling about the office. New and slow, she messed up just about everything she touched. Which is why, when she came near Grell with a pot of hot coffee, he politely declined. When she turned to pour some for his partner Mr. Knox, however, it happened. The young man stood up suddenly, frightening the girl into stumbling backwards, where she succeeded in spilling the entire pot onto Mr. Sutcliff's desk.

Grell jumped up

effeminately. "Oh my!" He squealed, horrified. "My desk! My paperwork! My makeup!"

Grell began yanking things off of his desk as the intern ran away to find napkins. Knox had just begun to help as well when the girl came back. As the mess was dealt with, a small photograph made it's way out of Grell's clasped arms and fluttered to the floor. The girl and Knox picked it up together, and before they had time to see anything more than a grade school-sized boy with a razor sharp smile and a head full of black hair, the photo was yanked from their hands by a very flustered Grell, who had dropped everything in his arms to snatch the lonely photo.

"I-I-I'm sorry," he said, embarrassed, in a super girly voice, "See, that's just a really embarrassing picture of back when I was in an awkward stage and not at all ladylike... It's a dark time and I'd really prefer not to be reminded of it~" He laughed nervously. "I wouldn't want all of the darling men in my life to see me so tomboyish, it would ruin my beautiful image, you see~" At this point he crumpled the photo in his fist and shoved it in his suit pocket.

Confused, but used Grell's vacillating emotions, Knox shrugged his shoulders and sat down back to work.

Grell lay everything back on his desk and sat down, sighing at all of the work he was going to have to redo. His hand ghosted over his pocket containing the crumpled photograph, and a bitter edge iced his tongue as her addressed the intern.

"Can you try not to be such a hopeless klutz next time dear? That would be nice. Oh, and do something with your hair dear, it's awfully bland. A new cut, or even dying it would help," he added, looking at her stringy light brown color. He was right, it was rather lifeless. But to point it out-! She gritted her teeth and nodded, walking away slowly. How rude!

...

Grell was in the flower shop that he visited when he was attending a ball or some such. It was his favorite, and it was owned by a young man that Grell had come to be close friends with in the past couple of years. He was chatting with this boy now, on a day when William finally let him free.

"So, 'ow's it going with yer boss?" The young man asked Grell, to which the other sighed.

"Not very well Tommy darling, not very well... I tried to talk to him in the hall today after break, and I cornered him in his office, to ask him, but he never even let me get the whole thing out. I really think he hates me... like, not just that he doesn't like me the way that I like him... but that he genuinely hates me as a person. Is it bad that I know that and still like him? Is it bad that I know how much of an asshole he is but I can't stop myself from being happy when he calls me, even though I know it's only going to be for work purposes?" Grell sighed hopelessly, laying his head on the counter.

"It's no' bad that yeh 'ave 'ope. Honestly, I don't see why ye can't just be yourself for once around him. You might be surprised, it could change his perspective, 'ee might notice you more."

"You know why I can't do that, Toms..."

"Yeah, but doesn't it hurt? Putting all of this effort into a mask that you wear constantly? Lit'rally the only time you don't have it on is when yer alone or just around me, ain't it?"

"Yes, but that's precisely it, you see. I've put on this act since middle school. If I were to suddenly stop now, they'd think I was mad."

"They already think yer mad, doll. What harm can come of it?" Thomas asked.

"Trust me Tommy, the reapers wouldn't take too kindly to the thought of me farcing them for so many years..." Grell sighed, twirling his hair around his index finger. "Why'd I have to pick red, though? I don't even remember the reason..."

_Flashback_

:::

It was an all-boys dormitory, and class had just let out. A group of adolescents got up from their desks as the teacher left the room and they surrounded one of the boys, a short, spindly boy, significantly more petite than the others. One of them, a great slow lug named Anderson, picked up the boy who was younger than all of them by at least three years. He held him in the air by his shirt collar. "What was that for, huh, Sutcliff? Tryin' ta make us look bad? Ya think ya kin jus' saunter in here, a class three years higher than ya should be in, and try an' show off all your damn smarts and make us look dumb? Well I won't allow it!" Anderson slapped the boy with the back of his hand. "Ya think yer hot stuff just because ya skipped a couple'a grades, huh Sutcliff? Do ya?!"

When the bullied boy didn't respond, Anderson smacked him again in the face, and this time Grell could taste his ring. Anderson dropped him on the floor and kicked him, smiling ruthlessly. "You're such a freak, Sutcliff." Said a young blond boy named Finney, taking a kick at him. A young silver haired kid was up next. He sent a powerful kick straight into Grell's ribcage. "How does that feel, boy?" He snarled. "It must feel pretty unawesome, *kick* which is perfect for someone unawesome like you-*kick*- how dare you try and make someone as awesome as myself look stupid?! You'll pay for that, brat, by Gott." He sent several more kicks into the boy's already bleeding ribcage, only to be stopped by his friends.

"Hold up, Gilbert, save some ass for the rest of us!" Anderson chided. Finney giggled. He slid his hands along the zipper of the young boys' pants, to which the kid reared back and kicked finney in the face, fighting back for the first time. The older boys pinned him down, and a deadly smile lit up Anderson's face. He pulled out a small switchblade. "Let's bring him back to the dorm, boys..."

...

**A/N I'm not supporting rape or bullying with this story. If you think anyone you know may be a victim of bullying talk with them or someone else and try to get some help bullying is a serious matter even if it isn't Always physical. I hope The secret side of Grell pulls on your heartstrings like it always has mine. I always believed something like this story to be true, that Grell's happy-go-lucky exterior was only an act. Review please and tell me what you think!**


	3. Hurting and Wet

**A/N So I know this chapter is kind of short but I really wanted to hurry up and get it out there because I know a couple of people are really waiting on this story. Honestly I wasn't gonna write anymore and I kinda dropped it after my flash drive got wiped, but I read your guy's reviews and it made me inspired to write this! I hope you guys enjoy it... let me know if you want another chapter from this story! Tell me what you guys think!**

_Flashback_

Grell sat in the corner of the hallway, wrapped in a single bloody sheet, sniffling, trying to stop the tears running silently down his face. His lips were gashed open from all the times he bit them in pain during what had just happened. Those sharp teeth that he hated, but could never get rid of. He filed them flat and they just went back to looking like some freakish shark. That was another reason that people bullied him. He was weird. Unnatural. Unloved.

And now unclean. Now forever sullied by the group of boys who had attacked him tonight. His jet black hair fell into his eyes but he didn't have the strength in his arms to move it out. He sniffled again and put his head down on the bed-sheet that was covered in his blood.

* * *

_Today_

"So what is it Bassy? Any leads on this new killer?" Grell asked girlishly. He was trying to weasel information out of the demon that seemed to be investigating everything sucky that went on in the human world. AKA everything that gave him more overtime. Oh gah, he was starting to sound like William now! How terrible! He shook his head. _I need to focus on what I'm doing..._ Grell started listening to what Ciel was saying.

"-rth would make you think we would share information with you? We hate you." The Phantomhive brat was saying with this terribly conceited, condescending young voice that made Grell just want to teach him a couple of things about respect-via lashes to his backside.

"I wasn't asking you! I was asking Bassy!" Grell hissed, staying in character.

"I'm afraid I'll have to agree with my young master." Sebastian answered curtly. "At the moment, it would not be prudent to divulge any information that could leak back to the killer. And besides, even if it was safe, I would never do anything to help a repulsive Shinigami like yourself. It's not within my job description either, so I'm afraid we will be taking our leave." And with that, Sebastian picked up the Earl Phantomhive and left, jumping away so suddenly that to a human it would look like he had taken flight.

* * *

Grell -tched! his teeth, irritated. Of course, he could always go and chase them, and demand that they give him information, but that would take up more precious time where he probably wouldn't gain anything new than a couple of new holes in his clothes.. and he was running out of clothes money anyways. So he just sighed, irritated, resigned that he now had to work harder to figure out who exactly was doing these unaccounted for murders? All he knew was that the alleged was dubbed "The Cupcake Killer" due to his Modus Operandi. And that was very little information. In fact, this killer could actually be linked to Grell's terrible childhood, but of course there is no way he would know that at this point. So he sighed, and trudged to the library because he had research to do AGAIN. Ugh, it would be so much easier if someone would just help a little but NO.

Of course no one would.

* * *

"Wake UP!" A voice screamed at Grell. He jolted awake, with a checkerboard pattern imprinted on his cheek where he had fallen asleep on a keyboard. "Meh? What is it...?" he murmured, not fully awake. He received a slap to the back of the head.

"I'm closing the library!" Came the answer, in one of those mean, crabby old ladies voices. And she had a body to match, wrinkled,grey hair, plaid-patterned flannel skirt and greyish shirt. She wore stockings and ugly old lady nude pumps. She was like a mean and ugly version of Mrs. Doubtfire. And although she looked frail, she was mean-spirited enough that you'd WANT her face to get run over by a truck. "Get out!" She started screeching, waving her arms. She took her walking stick and pushed everything of his off of the desk and onto the floor.

"Really?" He asked, getting up. It's not his fault he fell asleep doing research! He has been busy!He's never free! Stupid work... He cursed William mentally. The nerve of this woman! She was literally booting him out of the door with her foot, and she threw the rest of his paperwork into the street!

He sat on the curb picking up his paperwork in a huff. And of course, OF COURSE, it started to rain. Why not? Just because they don't live on Earth doesn't mean Shinigami get to be exempt from stupid crap like rain.

* * *

Grell stepped in the café, furious. He roughly sat down in a booth by the wall and spread his work on the table.

It was completely ruined. All of it. Everything except one sheet where he had done useless scribbling on and had used as math scratch paper. He slammed it onto the counter, waiting for the waitress to come over to him. He squeezed out his hair, it was really too long and pretty to go through this kind of treatment. He wrung out his bangs as well.

"Ugh..." He muttered, frowning. Now he would have to shampoo it all over again. It wasn't just the fact that it was messed up, it was the fact that shampoo is EXPENSIVE! And with as much hair as Grell had, he burned through it fairly quickly.

He slumped over on the table, waiting for the waitress. When she finally got there and offered him tea, he declined, preferring strong black coffee when he was in a mood like this. When she finally brought it to him, he took it thankfully.

"Here...sit." He offered. The waitress shook her head, she wasn't allowed to take breaks. "Oh... I see. That's fine then..." Grell sighed. He just continued drinking his coffee, looking out the window at the dreary sky... As dark as his mood was right now. He glanced outward... the thick rain more than a little pitter patter, but a thick sheet that separated the diner from the rest of the world.

* * *

**A/N Was it okay? What did you think? I'm really picking this back up from a total blank so I wanna know if I'm going in a direction that you guys like! Let me know, I'll be happy to talk about it with you! Also, this is mostly a headcannon story, so if you have any headcannons, let me know! If they don't interfere with mine I'd be happy to use them! **

**Also, I know a bunch of people are waiting on an update for Crossed Lovers. I'm really trying but since my flash-drive got wiped I lost a LOT of data for that story. And those chapters are LONG so it's really hard. But don't lose hope! I haven't discontinued it! It's just really hard to stay motivated during a setback like that... plus my college work is dragging me through the dust. **

**BUT DON'T LOSE HOPE. I literally only get motivated through reviews, I swear. **

**Also, my Mandark story isn't discontinued either, but it also got wiped and I haven't been into that fandom for a couple of years... but I will at some point try to write more of that! Don't get mad at me guys! I promise!**

**Loves and Tickles~~ **

**TOTALFANGIRL**


	4. Barns and Bridges

Grell sighed and stared at the painting before him it looked like an angry black tornado splashed with blood. He picked it up from the easel, still pissed. He threw it in the corner, with his other "Angry paintings" and grabbed a new canvas and set it on the easel. He set down the paint set he was using, before grabbing a calmer set of browns and blues, actually sitting to paint this one. He began painting a stylistic barn with the shades, breathing in deeply, exhaling gently to clear his head. He crossed his bare legs, (He was wearing black running shorts) leaning forward and thinking. His right foot tapped the ground, the small tattoo above his ankle bouncing up and down. He looked at his painting for a moment, then switched to green, fabricating a huge green grass monster who towered above the barn. He looked at the painting, satisfied, then when to clean up everything.

…

Later that night, after he finished picking up and had taken a bath, He stood for a moment, staring at his bed, unsure what to do with his free time. He needed sleep, but he also was pretty bored. He got on his knees and pulled a guitar out from under his bed, sitting down to play. His eyes fluttered shut as he picked at the familiar strings, not needing sheet music and playing his own melody. His own song that would never be heard. He played a deep song, a mournful song, a song about himself. He played for quite a bit more, until he got distracted by the tears running down his face. He sighed, picking more until he couldn't anymore. He put the guitar away and lit a candle, before rubbing his eyes and finally laying down for sleep.

…

"I'm not lying, William. I really did have it all done." He sighed, showing him the ruined papers. He handed him the second set, which wasn't completely done as of yet, since there was so much.

"To be frank, Sutcliff, I don't think I'm working you hard enough." William said coldly, pushing the ruined paperwork off of his desk and scattering it all over the floor. He looked up at him, not satisfied that Grell was even attempting to work. "Honestly, I think you have too much free time as it is." He said, adjusting his glasses and making a note on his paper.

"What? Are you serious? Will, I already have literally twice the workload of half of the people in my department!" Grell rebutted, shocked. "How do I not have enough to do?!"

Will narrowed his eyes. "You already don't always turn in your work on time, you must be slacking off."

"Or maybe it's because I have too much to do and not enough time! Will please, I honestly can't take on any more work or I'm just going to get even less done!" He said, pulling at his hair. "This isn't fair and you know it."

"It's very fair, Everyone else get's their work done on time."

"No one else has as much work to do as me, Will!"

"You have plenty of off days to fill out what you need."

"But I get called in literally almost every off day Will! How can you expect-"

"Because I am your superior, Sutcliff. I expect perfection."

…..

Grell groaned, his hand feeling like it was going to fall off due to the amount of writing. He'd been working for 15 hours straight, head killing him and eyes swimming with letters and numbers. He put his head down on the keyboard, pushing a series of random stuff with his forehead. He was promptly whacked in the back of the head with a small book.

"Library's closing! Get out!" A shrill voice screeched at him, and he raised his head up tiredly and looked around, noticing that he was once again the only patron left in the library. He groaned, picking up his papers before she could grab them and logging out of the computer. He held his hand up. "Don't worry Ma'am, I'm leaving," He said in response to her flurry of outrage. He trudged out of the library and started walking down the street.

He passed by the flower shop his friend owned and went back to his usual café. He took a table and spread his papers out, getting coffee again and moping as he tried to keep working. He was so exhausted the pen was shaking in his hand. He kept trying to write as a cheerful voice met his ears.

"…sure? No cupcakes? Aw, what kind of restaurant doesn't have cupcakes?" A cute boyish voice was asking. After a moment, "No tables either? Well I'm sure I can find one…" The voice started bouncing up the aisle past the happy and chattering people at all the tables until the footsteps finally stopped beside his table. Grell wiped his eyes and looked up at the cheery "Hello~" He got. A pretty freckly young man was standing in front of him, smiling widely. He looked like he was old enough to just have graduated high school. He had strawberry blonde hair (which was almost more pink than blond) and very bushy eyebrows. His mouth was huge, his smile much bigger than most peoples. It kind of reminded Grell of himself, his façade, a cute, bubbly happy man, with an inhuman smile, and Grell wondered if it was real. This reminded him of his own façade, and he quickly put it back on, curling his lips into a wide smile himself, about the same size. He blinked and tilted his head cutely, running his fingers through his hair, trying to untangle it.

"Why hello dear, what is it~?" He asked, completely different from the exhausted, grumpy looking man from before.

The man's smile only grew. "Wow, you have such a cool smile!" He said, bouncing up and down slightly. He said, happy. "Oh, I was wondering if I could sit with you? They said they don't have any tables and you seemed all lonely…" He said, shuffling his feet cutely.

Grell blinked, confused, but remembering his mask, nodded cutely and gestured to the seat across from him. "Yes of course~ But um, could you excuse me a moment? Restroom." He said, standing and moving there to adjust his makeup. He can back with his eyes fixed, and sat down in front of the man.

"Sorry for being so rude earlier, I'm just not used to people talking to me, and you seem so nice…" Grell said, smiling as cutely as he could. It worked, the man's eyes widened and he smiled back, holding out his hand.

"It-It's fine! Don't worry about it!" He said happily, bouncing a bit. "I'm Oliver Kirkland… You?" He asked, taking Grell's hand.

"A-Ah, Grell Sutcliff," He stammered, taken aback by the young man's forwardness and the breach of personal space. Usually he was the only one who did stuff like that. People didn't voluntarily get close to him. He smiled, running his finger along the man's hand gently after they broke apart. He started drawing small circles on the hand in front of him with his nail, before licking his lips and smiling. "Especially not such cute men~" He said, holding his breath. This was the deciding point. Most people would get up and walk away after that. I mean, Grell was awfully busy, but he also kinda wished the guy wouldn't leave. He had to suck it up though, most people would be weirded out by that.

He didn't leave, just flushed pink and smiled, happily embarrassed. "Well usually the people I talk to aren't as pretty as you either, and their smiles aren't anywhere near as sweet~" He responded, before the waitress interrupted them so he could order. After, he turned back and looked at him, and Grell noticed something very peculiar. This young man's eyes weren't normal. They had Rings in them, just like the rest of the Shinigami, but instead of being green and yellow, they were blue, with rings of pink. His eyes widened.

"Your eyes… They… they're different," He said, perplexed.

"So are your teeth," Oliver responded, taking a sip of his tea. "Not sweet enough," He said, emptying no less than five new sugar packets into the cup and stirring it. "Better." He said, smiling.

They talked for quite some time, and found many similarities. They had both gone to the same school and graduated with the same honours. They both had been 'teased' about their physical appearance, and tried their best to appeal to people. Grell liked to paint, whereas Oliver liked to cook. Oliver loved pink the way Grell loved Red. They got along rather well, and by the end of the meeting, they shared a similar smile and pink dusting their cheeks. It was honestly the nicest Grell had felt in weeks, and he even managed to get more work done while they talked. He tucked a piece of hair behind his ear, feeling wonderful as he packed up his work. They walked outside together and said farewell, Grell moving one direction down the sidewalk and Oliver the other. He got about five steps before he heard a "Wait!" and turned. Just as he turned, Oliver reached him and jumped up a little on his toes, pressing a kiss to the incredibly surprised reapers lips.

Grell sputtered, covering his mouth with his hands. That was the last thing he was expecting, seeing as 1. He'd only just met the guy hours earlier, 2. They hadn't exchanged contact information so he was doubting he'd ever meet him again, 3. Why on earth would he be expecting a romantic gesture from a virtual stranger, (though it seemed like they had known each other for a long time) and 4. Grell had never actually been kissed by someone else before. His eyes widened and the papers slipped from his hands, landing on the sidewalk.

"Wh-Wha?" He stuttered.

* * *

**A/N Aaaand that's a good place to leave off for now! Let me know what you think!**

**Snuggles!  
**


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